REV.  LOUIS  BEYER.  D- D® 

w  .  . 


BORN  AUGUST  SO,  1862 
DIED  JULY  11,  1®I3 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2018  with  funding  from 
Columbia  University  Libraries 


https://archive.org/details/inmemoriamrevlouOOunse 


A  Christian  Prince  in  Israel 
REV.  LOUIS  MEYER,  D.  D. 


By  Mrs.  X.  C.  Rounds 


“Knoiv  ye  not  that  there  is  a  Prince  and  a  great 
man  fallen  this  day  in  Israel.” — 2  Sam  3:38. 

These  words  came  to  us  as  a  telegram  bearing  the  startling  in¬ 
telligence  that  Dr.  Louis  Meyer,  one  of  the  most  noted  Jewish 
Christians  at  the  present  day,  had  exchanged  the  sorrow  and  suf¬ 
fering  of  earth  for  the  joy  and  rest  of  heaven. 

Although  Dr.  Meyer’s  illness  was  of  eight  months  duration, 
this  news  comes  as  a  shock  and  grief  to  his  numerous  friends,  at 
home  and  abroad,  who  have  been  praying  that  if  it  were  the  will 
of  the  Lord,  he  might  be  raised  up  to  complete  what  seemed  to  be 
an  unfinished  work.  We  will  not  attempt  to  enumerate  all  of  Louis 
Meyer’s  various  activities  for  the  advancement  of  the  Kingdom, 
but  will  mention  the  following  facts  to  give  some  idea  of  his  ‘  ‘  labors 
more  abundant”  during  the  twenty-one  years  of  his  Christian  ca¬ 
reer. 

Louis  Meyer  was  born  in  the  small  town  of  Crivitz  in  the  Duke¬ 
dom  of  Mecklenburg-Schwerin,  in  Northern  Germany,  on  August 
30,  1862.  His  parents,  who  were  well-to-do  Hebrews,  determined 
to  give  him  a  good  secular  education,  and  at  an  early  age  he  was 
sent  to  the  Gymnasium  in  Parchim,  Mecklenburg  (an  institution 


Page  Five 


between  an  American  College  and  a  university),  from  which  he 
was  graduated  in  1882.  His  own  inclination  drew  him  to  the  study 
of  history  and  literature,  but  the  fact  that  a  Jew  had,  at  that  time, 
no  hope  of  gaining  any  official  position  in  Germany,  caused  him  to 
begin  the  study  of  medicine  in  the  universities  of  Berlin,  1882- 
1883;  Marburg,  1883-1884;  Wurzburg,  1884-1885;  and  Halle, 
1885-1887.  He  became  especially  interested  in  surgery  and  served 
as  “volunteer”  in  the  Royal  Surgical  Hospital  at  Halle.  There  he 
contracted  blood  poisoning  at  a  post  mortem  section  in  1887,  and 
the  physicians  thought  only  a  long  sojourn  upon  the  ocean  could 
restore  the  weakened  nervous  system.  Thus  he  laid  aside  the  prac¬ 
tice  of  surgery  for  a  time  and  went  upon  the  sea  for  almost  four 
years.  He  served  first  as  steward,  then  as  chief  purser  upon  the 
Delcomyn,  Dunedin,  Bedford  and  other  steamers,  thus  seeing  almost 
every  part  of  the  world.  His  health  having  been  fully  restored,  he 
came  to  the  United  States,  and  soon  went  to  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  to 
again  take  up  the  practice  of  surgery,  which  he  laid  aside  almost 
five  years  before.  God  ordered  otherwise.  The  unbelieving  Jew 
was  converted  and  joined  the  Reformed  Presbyterian  Church  in 
Cincinnati.  He  was  baptized  in  1892,  by  Rev.  J.  C.  Smith,  of 
the  Clinton  Street  Reformed  Presbyterian  Church,  whose  oldest 
daughter  became  the  wife  of  the  young  Hebrew  Christian  in  1898. 

At  the  urgent  request  of  his  Christian  friends,  Mr.  Meyer  gave 
up  his  medical  career  and  became  a  missionary  to  the  Jews  in  Cin¬ 
cinnati.  Though  he  met  with  much  encouragement,  he  was  con¬ 
scious  of  the  need  of  better  training  for  the  preaching  of  the  Gos¬ 
pel  and  went  to  the  Reformed  Presbyterian  Seminary  in  Allegheny, 
Pa.,  from  which  he  was  graduated  in  1897.  A  call  from  the  Lake 


Page  Six 


Reno  congregation,  near  Glenwood,  Minn.,  before  his  graduation, 
was  accepted,  and  Louis  Meyer  was  ordained  and  installed  in  Jan¬ 
uary,  1898.  He  was  the  first  Hebrew  Christian  minister  of  the 
Reformed  Presbyterian  Church.  In  May,  1900,  he  accepted  the 
call  to  the  larger  congregation  at  Hopkinton,  la.,  to  which  he  min¬ 
istered  until  February  20,  1906.  During  his  pastorate  a  fine  large 
church  of  brick  and  stone  wras  erected  and  opened,  practically  free 
of  debt.  Four  young  men  of  that  congregation  consecrated  them¬ 
selves  to  the  service  of  the  Lord  in  the  Gospel  ministry.  In  1901 
the  Presbyterian  Synod  of  Iowa  made  Mr.  Meyer  a  trustee  of  Lenox 
College  of  Hopkinton,  in  which  capacity  he  served  until  1906.  He 
taught  also  the  History  of  Missions,  which  formed  a  part  of  the 
curriculum  in  Lenox  College,  from  1902  till  1905,  inclusive. 

During  the  years  in  Hopkinton  Mr.  Meyer  continued  in  larger 
measure  to  study  Jewish  Missions,  a  subject  which  he  had  com¬ 
menced  to  investigate  in  1896,  when  the  Presbytery  assigned  that 
subject  to  him  for  his  historical  essay  for  licensure.  He  searched 
the  libraries  of  Harvard,  Yale,  Boston  and  New  York,  making 
American  Jews  and  American  Jewish  Missions  his  special  study. 
Jews  and  Christians  soon  began  to  come  to  him  for  information, 
and  the  Missionary  Review  of  the  World,  The  Jewish  Era  and  other 
German  and  English  magazines  published  many  of  his  articles. 
In  1901  he  was  invited  to  be  one  of  the  speakers  at  the  Messianic 
Conference  in  Park  Street  Church,  Boston.  In  1902  he  was  one 
of  the  speakers  at  the  Jewish  section  of  the  Student  Volunteer 
Convention  of  Toronto,  Canada.  In  1903  he  was  the  organizing 
secretary  of  the  International  Hebrew  Christian  Conference  at 
Mountain  Lake  Park,  Indiana.  In  1902  he  furnished  the  tables 


Page  Seven 


of  the  Jewish  Missions  for  the  Atlas  of  Missions  by  H.  P.  Beach, 
which  he  revised  in  1904  for  the  New  Encyclopedia  of  Missions, 
and  again  in  1910  for  the  “World  Atlas  of  Christian  Missions.” 
In  1905  he  wrote  the  article  on  Judaism  for  the  text-book  of  the 
Student  Volunteers’  “Religions  of  the  Missionfield. ” 

In  February,  1906,  Mr.  Meyer  accepted  the  offer  of  the  Chi¬ 
cago  Hebrew  Mission  to  become  their  Field  Secretary.  His  report 
to  the  Board  of  Trustees  for  the  first  eleven  months  reveals  his  in¬ 
cessant  labors  and  wide  usefulness  in  this  field.  He  says : 

“A  part  of  the  eleven  months  for  which  I  am  to  report  to  you 
at  this  time  was  spent  abroad.  On  March  17,  1906,  I  sailed  for 
Southampton,  and  I  returned  to  this  country  on  July  22d,  having 
visited  England,  Ireland,  Scotland,  Holland  and  Germany.  While 
the  chief  purpose  of  my  journey  was  attendance  at  the  Seventh 
International  Jewish  Missionary  Conference,  which  was  held  at 
Amsterdam,  Holland,  on  April  24th  and  25th,  and  at  which  I  rep¬ 
resented  the  Chicago  Hebrew  Mission  and  the  Covenant  Mission 
at  Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  I,  at  the  same  time,  acquainted  myself  as  thor¬ 
oughly  as  possible  with  the  condition  of  the  Jews,  the  work  and 
methods  of  the  different  Jewish  Missions,  and  the  general  attitude 
of  Christions  toward  the  Jews  and  Jewish  Missions  in  the  different 
countries  which  I  visited.  .  . 

“Immediately  after  my  return  from  abroad  I  commenced  my 
work  of  addressing  Bible  Conferences  and  churches  wherever  the 
Lord  opened  the  door.  Thus,  the  privilege  was  granted  to  me  to 
speak  in  behalf  of  Jewish  Missions  at  Lake  Orion,  Mich.;  at  Lake 
Winona,  Ind. ;  at  Beulah  Park,  near  Cleveland,  Ohio,  and  at  many 
other  meetings,  and  since  July  26th,  I  have  spoken  in  Ohio,  Michi- 


Page  Eight 


gan,  Indiana,  Illinois.  Kansas  and  Pennsylvania.  Several  of  the 
Bible  training  schools  of  our  country  have  welcomed  me  and  given 
me  an  opportunity  of  addressing  their  students,  the  Bible  Train¬ 
ing  School  at  Fort  Wayne,  Inch,  arranging  for  a  course  of  lectures. 

“The  privilege  of  addressing  the  students  of  the  Reformed 
Presbyterian  Theological  Seminary  at  Allegheny,  Pa.,  was  also 
granted  to  me,  and  arrangements  have  been  made  by  Prof.  H.  P. 
Beach  of  the  Department  of  Missions  at  Yale  University  for  an 
address  to  the  students  of  that  famous  and  influential  divinity 
school  on  January  17th.  It  would  take  too  much  time  to  mention 
the  different  places  where  I  addressed  congregations  of  different 
denominations,  but  let  me  simply  sum  up  my  experiences  of  the 
past  months  in  a  few  words : 

“I  can  not  deny  that  there  have  been  some  discouraging  fea¬ 
tures  to  my  work,  the  greatest  among  them,  almost  continuous 
separation  from  my  family.  This  was  especially  hard  on  me  on 
account  of  much  sickness  of  my  children.  Then  it  was  peculiarly 
difficult  for  me  to  perform  my  preparatory  studies  and  my  literary 
work.  But  I  knew  of  these  difficulties  before  I  entered  upon  the 
work,  and  I  counted  the  cost  before  I  accepted  the  position.  The 
Lord  has  been  very  good  to  me  concerning  these  things  and  has 
made  the  burden  easy.  The  encouragements  of  the  work  have  been 
numerous  and  great.  I  sum  them  all  up  in  the  one  sentence : 
Everything  proves  to  me  that  I  am  doing  the  Lord’s  work.  Hence 
His  blessing  has  been  upon  me  and  His  help  has  been  freely  given. 
I  have  found  many  more  open  doors  than  I  expected  to  find,  and 
when  I  remember  that  I  am  engaged  in  a  new  and  hitherto  untried 
work  I  am  amazed  at  the  success  (speaking  from  the  human  stand- 


Page  Sine 


point).  There  is  an  ever-increasing  readiness  in  the  Christian 
churches  of  our  land  to  hear  the  Jew  and  Jewish  missions  discussed, 
and  the  stirring  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  behalf  of  Israel 
is  felt  in  every  denomination.  Prayer  for  Israel  is  increasing.  The 
religious  papers  of  the  United  States  are  demanding  articles  on 
Jews  and  Jewish  missions,  and  congregations  everywhere  are  be¬ 
ginning  to  come  to  a  consciousness  of  their  responsibility  for  the 
Jews  whom  God  is  bringing  to  us. 

*  ‘  ‘  Hitherto  hath  the  Lord  helped  us,  ’  and  I  look  into  the  future 
in  faith,  expecting  great  things  of  the  Lord  in  His  work  among 
Israel.  ’  ’ 

Mr.  Meyer  was  also  editor  of  the  Missionary  department  of  The 
Jewish  Era,  the  quarterly  magazine  of  The  Chicago  Hebrew  Mis¬ 
sion,  and  was  a  regular  contributor  to  the  Christian  Nation.  In 
1900  he  began  to  be  a  frequent  contributor  to  the  Missionary  Re¬ 
view  of  the  World,  and  in  1909  became  one  of  the  associate  editors. 
In  this  capacity  he  rendered  very  valuable  service  as  translator  for 
the  General  Missionary  Intelligence  department,  as  editor  of  the 
Jewish  Missionary  News  and  as  compiler  of  missionary  statistics. 
Dr.  Meyer  was  also  a  frequent  contributor  to  the  Glory  of  Israel, 
Pittsburgh,  and  Zion’s  Freund,  Hamburg,  Germany. 

Dr.  Meyer  has  never  published  any  account  of  his  conversion, 
and  has  always  been  reluctant  to  enter  into  a  discussion  of  this 
most  important  event  of  his  life.  He  was  reared  as  a  German  Jew, 
but  was  well  acquainted  with  Christianity  and  its  doctrines,  hav¬ 
ing  read  the  New  Testament  in  Greek  in  school.  As  a  student  he 
became  a  Rationalist,  and  was  sometimes  even  ashamed  of  his  Jew¬ 
ish  birth.  His  uncle,  the  celebrated  missionary  of  the  Presbyterian 


Page  Ten 


Church  of  England  in  London,  Rev.  Theodore  Meyer,  visited  fre¬ 
quently  at  the  home  of  his  brother,  Mr.  Meyer’s  father,  but,  having 
promised  not  to  discuss  religion  during  these  visits,  was  faithful  to 
his  promise  and  never  spoke  of  Christ  to  his  nephew.  He  prayed, 
however,  according  to  his  later  testimony,  especially  for  this  nephew, 
who  visited  him  frequently  in  London.  In  Cincinnati,  Mr.  Meyer 
selected  the  Covenanter  Church  for  his  study  of  the  English  lan¬ 
guage,  because  the  Psalms  were  sung  and  the  worship  was  very  sim¬ 
ple.  The  sermons  which  led  him  to  Christ,  step  by  step,  were  a 
course  of  lectures  by  Rev.  J.  C.  Smith,  on  “Christ  in  the 
Book  of  Leviticus.”  His  conversion,  therefore,  should  be  an  en¬ 
couragement  to  every  faithful  preacher  of  the  Gospel,  proving  that 
no  “special”  sermons  are  needed  for  cultured  Jews,  and  that  the 
Gospel  is  still  “the  power  of  God  unto  salvation  to  every  one  that 
believeth,  to  the  Jew  first,  and  also  to  the  Greek.” 

For  four  years  Mr.  Meyer  traveled  as  field  secretary  of  the 
Chicago  Hebrew  Mission,  visiting  all  parts  of  the  country,  from 
Maine  to  California,  not  as  a  collector  of  funds,  but  as  a  lecturer, 
to  create  an  interest  in  Jewish  work  in  general.  His  labors  resulted 
in  stimulating  much  personal  work  in  the  organization  of  local  mis¬ 
sions,  and  in  strengthening  the  heart  and  hands  of  those  engaged  in 
missions  already  established. 

In  May,  1900,  Dr.  Meyer  was  appointed  by  the  General  Assem¬ 
bly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  U.  S.  A.  to  take  charge  of  the 
Jewish  work  inaugurated  by  the  Board  of  Home  Missions  in  its 
Department  of  Immigration,  intending  thereby,  as  Dr.  Meyer  sup¬ 
posed,  to  prosecute  a  Gospel  work  among  the  thousands  of  Jewish 
immigrants  flocking  to  our  shores.  But  after  two  years  he  with- 


Page  Eleven 


drew  from  this  local  effort  and  gave  himself  once  more  to  the  na¬ 
tional  field. 

Dr.  Meyer,  a  man  of  marvelous  linguistic  power,  possessed 
an  unusually  clear  head,  a  very  retentive  memory,  a  logical  mind. 
His  brain  was  a  storehouse  of  facts  and  figures  on  the  Jewish 
problems  of  the  day  and  on  general  missionary  intelligence,  which 
he  could  quote  at  a  moment’s  notice.  He  was  a  statistician  of 
acknowledged  authority  in  the  United  States  and  abroad,  and 
was  exceedingly  accurate  and  careful  in  collecting  his  material. 
Dr.  Meyer’s  wife  used  to  rally  him  in  their  early  married  life 
for  spending  so  much  time  over  statistical  tables,  but  he  replied : 
“These  are  my  capital.”  One  gentleman  used  to  refer  to  him 
as  “a  walking  thesaurus.”  Especially  was  he  noted  for  the  me¬ 
thodical  arrangements  of  his  papers.  He  never  was  at  a  loss  to 
find  a  letter  or  paper  of  any  kind,  so  accurately  were  they  filed  and 
indexed.  It  was  a  rare  thing  to  find  a  converted  Hebrew  of  whom 
he  could  not  tell  all  about  his  birth,  his  conversion,  his  baptism,  his 
occupation  and  his  ministry. 

Dr.  Meyer  was  also  a  devout  and  intelligent  student  of  the 
Word  and  a  man  of  prayer,  as  all  his  sermons  and  lectures  clearly 
evidenced.  His  writings  showed  a  very  clear  and  forceful  style, 
so  that  no  one  had  ever  to  guess  at  his  meaning. 

Although  a  man  of  rare  ability,  he  still  at  times  showed  much 
timidity  and  fear,  so  often  found  in  magnetic  speakers.  This  is 
brought  out  in  a  private  letter  written  from  Princeton,  N.  J.,  where, 
at  the  invitation  of  Mrs.  Borden,  he  gave  three  lectures  in  McCosh 
Hall,  February  13,  18,  and  20,  1911.  The  story  of  these  meetings, 
not  written  for  publication,  is  best  told  in  his  own  words,  as  sliow- 


Page  Twelve 


ing  his  conscious  lack,  but  which  the  Spirit  seemed  to  make  up  to 
him. 

“Monday,  February  12th,  I  was  very  tired  and  worn  out,  and 
I  was  very  nervous  as  I  looked  forward  to  the  first  meeting.  I 
was  to  face  the  students  of  the  University  of  Princeton,  and  I  was 
deeply  conscious  of  my  lack  of  knowledge,  of  my  German  and  Jew¬ 
ish  brogue,  and  of  my  general  insufficiency.  The  notices  sent  out, 
which  I  had  not  seen  before,  and  the  special  program  for  the  even¬ 
ing,  made  me  afraid  that  the  audience  might  lose  sight  of  the  spir¬ 
itual  side  of  the  meeting.  But,  at  the  same  time,  I  was  conscious 
that  many  were  praying  in  behalf  of  the  meeting  and  for  me,  and  I 
decided  to  trust  and  do  what  I  considered  my  duty  to  my  Lord, 
especially  since  Mrs.  Borden  had  given  me  complete  liberty  con¬ 
cerning  my  address. 

“None  of  us  had  any  idea  whether  any  of  the  students  would 
attend.  We  counted  upon  a  number  of  those  from  the  Theological 
Seminary,  who  know  me,  and  upon  some  of  the  people  of  Prince¬ 
ton,  but  all  of  us  agreed  that  McCosh  Hall,  which  seats  600  people, 
would  prove  rather  large  for  the  occasion.  Thus  the  hour  for  the 
meeting  came,  and  lo,  there  were  less  than  fifty  chairs  vacant  in 
the  hall,  and  a  large  crowd  of  students  had  appeared.  Our  harpist 
and  our  singer,  two  good  Christian  ladies,  proved  a  success,  and 
their  earnest  music  was  well  received.  Then  I  was  introduced.  I 
commenced  with  a  broad  history  of  the  Jews,  past  and  present, 
speaking  about  twenty  minutes  without  revealing  my  real  purpose, 
and  the  audience  followed  me  with  interest.  Suddenly  I  closed  my 
narrative,  and  I  went  on  somewhat  like  this:  ‘Jewish  History  is 
true.  It  is  recorded  in  the  Old  Testament.  The  Old  Testament  was 


Page  Thirteen 


closed  at  least  2,500  years  ago.  Whence  did  its  writers  get  the 
knowledge  of  such  history  which  is  peculiar  and  extraordinary? 
By  divine  inspiration.  Then  the  Old  Testament  is  the  Voice  of 
God.  ’  While  I  wTas  developing  these  thoughts,  some  of  the  students 
who  had  been  lolling  in  their  seats,  sat  up  and  leaning  forward, 
began  to  show  signs  of  special  interest. 

“Then  once  more  I  turned  to  Jewish  history  and  asked  the 
question,  ‘What  does  it  teach  us?’  My  answer  was,  ‘It  teaches  us 
that  the  master  sin  of  men  is  the  rejection  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.’ 
It  began  to  grow  very  still  as  I  was  thus  appealing  to  every  one 
present.  Just  as  I  closed  the  appeal  and  was  ready  to  finish,  the 
great  bell  of  the  university  struck  nine,  and  every  one  of  the  strokes 
was  clearly  heard  amid  the  stillness.  It  wTas  like  the  call  of  the 
Lord.  It  was  of  His  ordering,  for  I  had  not  known  of  the  existence 
of  the  clock.  Deeply  stirred  myself,  I  was  silent  while  the  clock 
was  striking.  When  it  had  ceased,  I  simply  said,  Amen.  For  a 
little  all  was  silence.  Then  two  students  arose,  and,  as  their  fashion 
is,  showed  their  approval  by  applause,  and  in  a  moment  the  hall 
resounded  with  the  clapping  of  hands,  the  Christian  men  and  wo¬ 
men,  the  professors  and  the  preachers  present  joining  in  it.  But 
I  sat  down,  not  even  acknowledging  the  applause,  because  the  praise 
belonged  unto  the  Lord. 

“Two  most  appropriate  pieces  of  music  followed  and  the  meet¬ 
ing  came  to  a  close.  A  crowd  surrounded  me.  Professors  and 
preachers,  men  and  women,  came  to  shake  my  hand.  An  old  man 
whispered  in  my  ear,  ‘Your  message  was  from  the  Lord.  To  Him 
be  praise.’  Then  came  the  students.  The  first  was  a  Senior.  He 
was  from  Cincinnati,  and  wanted  to  tell  me  that  he  had  only  come 


Page  Fourteen 


because  I  was  advertised  as  from  his  city,  but,  he  added,  ‘  The  Lord 
has  spoken  to  me  tonight.  I  will  serve  Him  in  the  future  more 
earnestly.’  Other  students  followed  him,  among  them  an  uncon¬ 
verted  Jew,  a  Senior,  who  was  quite  timid  and  did  not  know  what  to 
make  of  me.  Then  came  two  gentlemen,  to  invite  me  for  Wednes¬ 
day  night,  7  o’clock,  to  be  the  guest  and  speaker,  on  a  subject  of 
my  own  choice,  at  the  Graduate  College. 

“February  16.  Last  night  was  a  grand  opportunity.  All  the 
students  of  the  Graduate  College  were  present  and  wore  white  vests 
and  gowns,  so  that  I  had  to  put  on  one,  too.  The  dinner  was  pre¬ 
sided  over  by  Professor  Van  Dyke.  Then  we  adjourned  to  the  Li¬ 
brary,  where  I  spoke  forty-five  minutes,  by  order,  on  ‘Our  Jewish 
Immigrants.’  The  interest  was  intense,  and  I  had  to  answer  ques¬ 
tions  for  thirty  minutes  more ;  even  when  I  had  my  overcoat  on 
and  wTas  in  the  hall,  some  new  questions  were  asked.  In  walking 
home  with  me,  Dr.  Van  Dyke  said  that  he  had  never  seen  anything 
like  it  in  the  Graduate  College,  though  the  dinners  are  monthly, 
and  they  send  for  great  men  and  speakers.  .  I  answered  him  that 
it  was  not  the  speaker,  but  the  subject  and  the  Lord  behind  it. 
Praise  the  Lord  for  His  goodness.  ’  ’ 

On  April  28,  1911,  the  Dubuque  German  Presbyterian  College 
conferred  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity  upon  him.  On  May  22, 
1911,  he  sailed  for  Stockholm,  Sweden,  to  attend  the  “Eighth  In¬ 
ternational  Conference  of  Jewish  Missions,”  from  July  7  to  9,  1911, 
in  which  conference  he  took  a  prominent  part. 

Upon  the  departure  of  Dr.  A.  C.  Dixon  of  Chicago  Avenue 
Church,  to  take  the  pastorate  of  the  Metropolitan  Tabernacle,  Lon¬ 
don,  Dr.  Meyer  was  appointed  June  1,  1911,  to  succeed  him  as  Ex- 


Page  Fifteen 


ecutive  Secretary  of  The  Fundamentals ;  to  edit  papers  in  connec¬ 
tion  with  a  fund  created  by  ‘  ‘  Two  Christian  Laymen ;  ”  to  furnish 
in  a  series  of  volumes  statements  of  the  fundamentals  of  Chris¬ 
tianity  “to  every  pastor,  evangelist,  missionary,  theological  student, 
Sunday-school  superintendent,  Y.  M.  C.  A.  and  Y.  W.  C.  A.  secre¬ 
tary  in  the  English-speaking  world,  so  far  as  their  addresses  can 
be  obtained.”  In  this  capacity  his  services  were  invaluable,  and 
he  had  the  fullest  confidence  of  the  Board  of  Trustees.  In  a  letter 
written  since  Dr.  Meyer’s  death  to  a  private  party,  by  Mr.  Thomas 
E.  Stephens,  manager  of  The  Fundamentals,  we  have  the  estimate 
of  one  who  was  closely  in  touch  with  him : 

“I  wish  to  add  a  word  of  deep  appreciation  regarding  the  life 
and  work  of  Dr.  Meyer.  He  was  faithful  and  conscientious  to  the 
last  degree.  We  shall  miss  his  painstaking  oversight  of  our  work, 
his  visits  to  the  office,  his  helpful  counsel,  his  promptness  in  corre¬ 
spondence,  and  the  great  care  which  he  always  took  to  reply  so  fully 
and  accurately  to  every  inquiry.  He  had  a  heart  of  love  and  tender 
sympathy,  and  in  more  than  one  sense,  he  was  one  of  God’s  chosen 
people.” 

Thousands  of  testimonials  from  readers  of  The  Fundamentals 
attest  the  helpfulness  of  the  articles  in  the  five  volumes  which  he 
edited. 

In  June,  1910,  Dr.  Meyer  was  appointed  to  prepare  a  paper  on 
“The  Jews”  for  the  Committee  of  the  World’s  Missionary  Confer¬ 
ence,  held  at  Edinburgh,  Scotland,  June  14-23,  1910.  He  attended 
this  conference  himself  and  took  a  prominent  part  in  the  discussions, 
delivering  a  special  address  on  “The  Jews.” 


Page  Sixteen 


The  last  service  that  he  was  able  to  render  to  his  dearly  be¬ 
loved  Chicago  Hebrew  Mission,  with  which  he  was  abways  in  sym¬ 
pathy,  was  his  attendance  at  the  quarterly  meeting  of  the  Board, 
October  9,  1912,  at  which  time  he  was  happy  in  his  suggestions  and 
counsel. 

On  the  third  of  November,  while  Dr.  Meyer  was  arranging  to 
attend  the  quarter-centennial  of  the  Chicago  Hebrew  Mission,  to 
be  held  November  4,  1912,  he  was  stricken  down  by  hemorrhages  of 
the  lungs.  In  about  a  month  he  recovered  sufficiently  to  take  a  trip 
to  California  and  remained  in  a  sanitarium  at  Monrovia  for  seven 
months.  Although  he  was  under  the  care  of  skilled  physicians  and 
nurses,  and  was  ministered  to  by  kind  and  loving  friends,  who  fur¬ 
nished  him  with  everything  that  wealth  could  provide,  he  gradually 
grew  weaker,  and  on  Friday,  July  11th,  at  10  :30  a.  m.,  the  spirit 
took  its  flight.  He  was  ‘  ‘  at  home  with  the  Lord.  ’  ’ 

About  two  weeks  before  he  passed  away  he  said  feebly  to  his 
friend,  Mr.  Lyman  Stewart,  ‘  ‘  I  have  never  been  sorry  for  the  cross 
which  I  had  to  carry  in  the  persecution  of  my  people.” 

A  few  days  before  death  he  said  something  in  Latin.  When 

asked  what  he  meant,  he  smiled  and  replied:  “Tell  Mrs.  - 

‘The  battle  is  over,  the  victory  is  won’.” 

Though  for  three  weeks  he  had  been  blind,  with  great  self- 
control  he  concealed  the  fact  from  his  wife,  who  was  constantly  by 
his  bedside,  lest  it  should  distress  her. 

As  he  neared  the  heavenly  shore  his  face  lit  up  as  with  a  beau- 
tific  vision.  His  blinded  eyes,  now  open,  evidently  caught  the  face 
of  his  Saviour,  for  he  whispered  ‘  ‘  Christ  ’  ’ — then  later,  ‘  ‘ Pa.  ’ ’  (This 
was  his  father-in-law,  who  had  led  him  to  Christ.)  It  was  beau- 


Page  Seventeen 


tiful  that  he  should  see  his  Saviour  first,  then  he  who  had  led  him 
to  Christ. 

An  aged  mother  in  Berlin,  a  wife  and  three  children  are  left  to 
mourn  his  loss  with  an  innumerable  company  of  friends  to  share  in 
their  grief.  The  funeral  services  were  held  in  Pasadena,  on  July 
14th. 

The  Chicago  Hebrew  Mission  and  the  Missionary  Review  of  the 
World  will  especially  miss  his  counsels  and  aid.  The  whole  Chris¬ 
tian  world  and  the  Church  of  Christ  are  richer  for  his  life  and  ser¬ 
vice,  and  will  greatly  feel  the  loss  caused  by  his  departure.  With 
the  coming  of  our  Lord  we  shall  greet  him  and  rejoice  in  his  joy 
when  together  with  him  we  shall  be  ‘  ‘  forever  with  the  Lord.  ’  ’ — Mis¬ 
sionary  Review  of  the  World. 


Page  Eighteen 


Rev.  Louis  Meyer,  D.  D. 


An  Appreciation,  by  Delavan  L.  Pierson 


Louis  Meyer  was  a  remarkable  man.  He  had  the  German’s 
love  of  accurate  scholarship,  the  Hebrew’s  keenness  of  perception 
and  dogged  perseverance  and  the  Christian’s  humility  and  love  for 
his  Master.  He  understood  not  only  Hebrew  and  Yiddish,  but 
knew  French  and  German  and  could  read  many  of  the  other  Euro¬ 
pean  languages.  For  years  he  subscribed  for  most  of  the  mission¬ 
ary  papers  of  the  continent  as  well  as  those  of  Great  Britain  and 
America.  He  read  them  merely  because  of  his  love  of  information 
and  translated  and  wrote  articles  freely  for  the  religious  press.  He 
knew  the  reputation  of  his  race  in  financial  dealings,  and  when  he 
became  a  Christian  he  determined  that  none  should  say  that  he  made 
capital  out  of  his  Christian  faith.  Consequently  he  used  his  pen 
and  tongue  for  the  cause  of  Christ,  without  money  and  without 
price.  This  was  one  of  the  main  reasons  why  he  would  not  become 
a  salaried  missionary  to  the  Jews.  He  did  not  wish  to  commer¬ 
cialize  his  conversion.  He  also  believed  that  he  could  do  better 
work  in  arousing  Christians  into  a  sense  of  their  duty  towards 
God’s  “Chosen  People”  and  he  was  wonderfully  used  in  this  way. 
Probably  no  man — certainly  none  in  America  had  a  more  thorough 
knowledge  of  missions  to  Jews  and  of  the  life  stories  of  Jewish 
Christians. 


Page  Nineteen 


Dr.  Meyer  had  a  remarkable  memory  and  this  enabled  him  to 
quote  endless  facts,  dates  and  figures  that  astonished  his  audiences 
and  that  made  him  an  authority  on  religious  and  missionary  his¬ 
tory.  He  prepared  the  Jewish  Statistics  for  the  World  Missionary 
Conference  of  Edinburgh  and  for  the  World  Christian  Missionary 
Atlas,  edited  by  Dr.  Harlan  P.  Beach.  His  Missionary  Statistics 
for  the  Missionary  Review  of  the  World  were  the  most  complete  and 
accurate  ever  published  and  have  been  quoted  and  commended  all 
over  the  world. 

But  Dr.  Meyer  was  not  only  a  great  authority  on  Jewish  His¬ 
tory  and  Work  and  on  Missions  in  general,  he  was  also  a  great 
Bible  student  and  theologian.  He  was  sound  in  the  faith  and 
could  hold  audiences  spellbound  for  hours  while  he  spoke  on  He¬ 
brew  History  and  on  the  teachings  of  the  Bible.  In  pulpits  where 
he  once  preached  he  ever  after  found  an  open  door. 

His  industry,  sound  judgment,  tact  and  wide  knowledge  were 
put  to  fine  use  in  his  editorship  of  Fundamentals,  the  books  pub¬ 
lished  by  the  generous  gift  of  “Two  Christian  Laymen.”  Dr. 
Meyer  read  hundreds  of  manuscripts,  wrote  thousands  of  letters, 
read  proofs  and  planned  out  five  of  these  important  and  useful  vol¬ 
umes.  In  fact,  he  overworked  early  and  late,  and  these  editorial 
duties  in  addition  to  his  preaching  and  long  lecture  tours  were  too 
great  a  strain  on  his  small  wiry  body.  He  broke  down  physically, 
but  his  mind  and  spirit  would  not  die.  Louis  Meyer’s  place  cannot 
be  filled  by  any  man.  The  work  that  he  did,  with  God’s  help,  for 
Jewish  Missions,  for  the  world  Kingdom  of  Christ  and  for  the  ad¬ 
vancement  of  Biblical  Knowledge  will  abide  forever. 


Page  Twenty 


“Tke  Good  Figkt 


Funeral  address,  delivered  July  14,  1913,  in  the  Pasa¬ 
dena  United  Presbyterian  Church,  Pasadena,  Calif.,  by  the 
Pastor,  Rev.  A.  Theodore  Smith,  brother-in-law  of  Dr.  Meyer. 

In  a  number  of  respects  the  Christian  career  of  Louis  Meyer 
resembled  that  of  the  apostles.  As  Peter  and  the  other  disciples 
“left  all  and  followed”  the  Lord,  so  did  he.  Unlike  us  who  belong 
to  the  Gentile  races,  when  he  confessed  Christ  as  His  Saviour,  he 
had  to  give  up  father  and  mother,  brother  and  sister,  as  well  as 
houses  and  lands.  There  was  the  same  persecution  as  that  endured 
by  the  apostles,  the  same  reviling,  the  same  long,  patient  prepara¬ 
tion,  and  at  times  the  same  pinching  poverty.  Like  them  he  be¬ 
longed  to  the  Hebrew  race,  and  also  like  them,  during  the  trying 
periods  of  his  ministry,  he  could  comfort  himself  with  the  great 
fact,  that  when  “in  the  fulness  of  time”  God  sent  His  Son  into 
the  world  in  human  form,  He  clothed  Him  in  Jewish  flesh  and 
blood. 

But  of  all  the  apostles,  he  seems  most  to  resemble  the  great 
apostle  to  the  Gentiles.  Filled  with  a  consuming  zeal  for  the  salva¬ 
tion  of  Israel,  he  sought  earnestly  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  those  of 
his  own  race.  He  went  “unto  his  own  and,”  like  his  Master,  “his 
own  received  him  not.”  Following  the  guidance  of  the  Lord,  he 
ministered  for  a  period  of  eight  years  distinctively  to  the  Gentile 
congregations  of  Lake  Reno,  Minnesota,  and  of  Hopkinton,  Iowa, 
of  the  Reformed  Presbyterian  faith.  Then,  with  a  vast  array  of 


Page  Twenty-one 


facts  and  statistics  concerning  the  Jewish  mission  of  the  world  gath¬ 
ered  for  years  wdth  the  most  painstaking  care,  and  an  almost  inex¬ 
haustible  fund  of  information  concerning  the  Hebrew  people,  all 
marshalled  for  use  at  a  moment’s  notice,  he  launched  forth  in  a 
great  strategic  movement  with  the  definite  purpose  of  enlightening 
Christian  people  and  arousing  their  interest  in  mission  work  in  be¬ 
half  of  God ’s  neglected,  ancient  people. 

So  we  think  it  not  amiss  to  apply  to  his  life  and  ministry,  the 
words  which  Paul  applied  to  himself:  “I  have  fought  the  good 
fight,  I  have  finished  the  course,  I  have  kept  the  faith:  henceforth 

there  is  laid  up  for  me  the  crown  of  righteousness,  which  the  Lord, 

the  righteous  judge,  shall  give  to  me  at  that  day ;  and  not  to  me  only, 

but  also  to  all  them  that  have  loved  His  appearing.” 

The  apostle  compares  his  life  to  a  fight.  “I  have  fought  the 
good  fight.”  And  a  most  valiant  fight  did  Louis  Meyer  wage  under 
the  banner  of  the  cross  for  twenty-one  years.  It  began  in  storm 
and  stress.  It  was  continued  amid  difficulties  and  discouragements 
that  would  have  daunted  a  less  determined  will  or  a  less  consecrated 
Christian. 

Failing  to  induce  him  to  renounce  his  Saviour  by  persecution 
and  ostracism,  continued  persistently  for  years,  his  Jewish  friends 
and  relatives,  a  number  of  whom  stand  high  in  the  commercial 
and  business  world,  resorted  to  more  subtle  methods. 

At  the  most  trying  time  of  his  ministry  to  a  Gentile  congrega¬ 
tion,  when  some  of  those  that  bore  the  name  of  Jesus  within  the 
church  were  acting  as  though  they  had  never  known  Christ,  when 
the  pitiful  salary  of  $900,  the  sole  means  of  livelihood  for  himself 


Page  Twenty-two 


and  family,  was  actually  being  withheld  for  months  by  the  treasurer 
of  the  congregation,  Dr.  Meyer  was  called  to  the  long  distance  tele¬ 
phone.  A  cousin  in  New  York,  who  had  large  business  interests  in 
the  metropolis,  offered  him  a  business  position  in  his  store  at  a  sal¬ 
ary  of  $10,000  annually.  Realiizng  that  the  acceptance  of  such  an 
offer  would  mean  the  abandonment  of  the  Gospel  ministry,  without 
a  moment’s  hesitation,  he  positively  refused  even  to  consider  such 
a  proposition.  If  there  ever  was  a  man  over  whom  the  love  of 
money  had  no  power,  that  man  was  Louis  Meyer.  His  services  were 
absolutely  unpurchaseable  at  any  price,  save  as  the  Master  directed 
and  led.  And  this  is  all  the  more  singular,  when  we  consider  the 
fact  that  he  came  of  the  race  that  has  taught  the  world  the  worship 
of  mammon  as  well  as  the  worship  of  God. 

At  times  there  were  those  who  criticised  his  methods  in  the 
army  of  Christ.  This  was  especially  true  of  one  or  two,  who  had 
come  into  the  Christian  ranks  from  the  Jewish  church.  And  yet, 
in  doing  his  -work  and  in  waging  his  warfare  for  Christ  he,  as  all 
of  us  must  do,  if  we  are  really  to  succeed,  very  naturally  used  his 
own  methods.  And  these  methods  were  similar  to  those  of  the  apos¬ 
tle  Paul,  in  seizing  strategic  positions  for  the  cause  of  Jewish  mis¬ 
sions.  Had  he  taken  charge  of  some  local  Jewish  mission,  as  some 
sought  to  have  him  do,  there  would  be  to-day  multitudes,  many  of 
them  leaders  in  Christian  activities,  who  would  still  be  uninterested 
in  special  work  for  God’s  ancient  people.  Before  general  assem¬ 
blies  and  conferences  and  religious  gatherings  of  almost  all  the 
evangelical'  denominations  both  in  the  Old  and  New  worlds,  at  the 
great  Bible  conferences  all  over  this  country,  in  special  lecture 


Page  Twenty-three 


courses  at  the  leading  universities  and  theological  seminaries,  in 
student  volunteer  conventions  and  economical  missionary  confer¬ 
ences,  his  voice  was  repeatedly  heard  pleading  for  the  Israelitish 
race.  And  so  accurate  were  his  statements  and  so  comprehensive 
his  researches,  that  he  beyond  all  question,  came  to  be  considered 
the  highest  authority  in  the  world  in  his  special  department. 

This  is  well  illustrated  by  one  incident  that  occurred  prior  to 
the  Edinburgh  Missionary  Convention.  When  Dr.  John  R.  Mott 
was  preparing  the  program  for  this  great  gathering,  he  wrote  to 
Dr.  Richter  of  Germany  and  to  a  like  high  authority  in  Scot¬ 
land,  asking  them  to  prepare  authoritative  papers  on  Jewish 
mission  work  in  their  respective  fields.  Both  replied  in  almost 
identical  language,  urging  Dr.  Mott  to  secure  Dr.  Meyer,  for  all 
they  could  do,  would  be  to  quote  his  statistics  and  findings  as  pub¬ 
lished  in  The  Missionary  Review  of  the  World,  and  other  periodicals. 
Dr.  Meyer  accordingly  furnished  the  desired  articles  and  gave  the 
required  addresses  at  this  convention. 

I  remember  his  referring  with  the  greatest  good  nature  to  the 
way,  when  he  was  but  a  bit  of  a  lad,  the  janitor  of  a  Lutheran 
church  in  Germany  kicked  him  out  of  the  church,  because  he  was 
a  hated  Jew,  and  then,  years  later,  to  his  reminding  that  same 
janitor  of  the  incident,  when  as  the  speaker  of  the  day,  he  addressed 
a  great  religious  gathering  in  that  same  church. 

And  now  that  he  is  gone  we  agree  with  Prof.  Strach  of  Ger¬ 
many  in  his  letter  of  sympathy  to  the  widow,  “There  is  no  one  to 
take  his  place.” 

“ I  have  finished  the  course A  finished  course  also  lies  be- 


Page  Twenty-four 


hind  Louis  Meyer  today.  I  remember  when  he  began  the  Christian 
race.  \ 

In  the  providence  of  God,  my  father,  Rev.  John  Calvin  Smith, 
the  pastor  of  the  Covenanter  congregation  of  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  was 
moved  to  found  a  mission  to  the  Jews  in  that  city.  I  remember 
father’s  telling  us  one  day  that  he  had  met  at  the  mission  a  schol¬ 
arly  German  Jew  by  the  name  of  Meyer.  Then  came  the  time,  in 
1892,  when  he  was  baptized.  While  we,  who  were  still  in  our  teens, 
could  little  realize  the  significance  of  that  rite  on  that  occasion, 
yet  even  we  children  felt  something  of  its  solemnity.  Then,  began 
his  work  for  the  salvation  of  Israel.  Under  the  prayerful  guid¬ 
ance  and  persuasion  of  his  pastor,  he  decided  to  enter  the  ministry, 
graduating  from  the  Reformed  Theological  Seminary  at  Allegheny, 
Pa.,  in  December,  1897. 

“1  have  finished  the  course Today  we  stand  beside  his  dead 
body.  The  course  here  is  run.  Years  ago,  back  in  the  home  town 
in  Germany,  there  was  another  casket,  another  set  of  mourners, 
and  another  funeral  service,  as  his  own  father  and  mother  and 
brother  and  sister  and  other  kindred  solemnly  renounced  all  kin¬ 
ship  with  him,  wdiilee  his  father  disinherited  him,  solemnly  pro¬ 
nouncing  the  curse  on  his  own  flesh  and  blood,  who  had  forsaken 
the  faith  of  his  fathers.  That  was  the  beginning;  this  is  the  earthly 
ending  of  his  Christian  pilgrimage. 

The  apostle  refers  to  his  life  as  a  “keeping  of  the  faith.”  In 
this  age  of  following  after  fads  and  fancies  in  the  religious  sphere, 
it  is  truly  refreshing  to  find  one  who  has  “kept  the  faith,”  “once 
delivered  to  the  saints.”  Against  all  enticements  and  arguments, 
pleas  for  personal  advancement  and  even  the  cause  he  represented, 


Page  Twenty-live 


Louis  Meyer  steadfastly  set  himself  and  was  loyal  to  the  truth  as 
presented  by  the  little  Covenanter  body  with  which  he  first  affil¬ 
iated. 

His  loyalty  to  the  cause  of  Jewish  missions  was  never  more 
evident  than  during  the  closing  weeks  of  his  life.  While  utilizing 
his  diminishing  strength  in  issuing  the  last  two  volumes  of  “The 
Fundamentals,”  he  nevertheless  found  time  to  plead  personally 
with  a  young  Jewess,  who  was  at  the  same  sanitorium,  seeking  to 
win  her  to  the  Lord  Jesus. 

As  the  end  drew  near,  which  he  from  the  first  realized  was  in¬ 
evitable,  the  Lord  called  him  to  undergo  seven  weeks  of  the  most 
intense  suffering  for  His  name’s  sake.  During  the  greater  part  of 
this  time,  he  was  delirious  from  pain.  The  hemorrhages,  which  had 
appeared  on  November  2,  1912,  and  had  continued  intermittently 
since,  were  now"  followed  by  neuritis,  culminating  in  tubercular  men¬ 
ingitis,  causing  death  on  July  11th,  1913.  Only  the  Lord  and  the 
watchers  by  his  bedside  during  those  closing  days  could  know  of 
the  awful  agony  he  endured.  At  times  he  would  be  rational,  when 
he  would  repeatedly  say  that  he  “was  glad  he  had  taken  up  the 
cross  of  Christ,”  and  would  vehemently  assert  his  firm  faith  in 
Jesus  of  Nazareth  as  his  personal  Saviour.  Even  in  his  delirium, 
the  great  purpose  of  his  life  forged  to  the  front  almost  continually. 
At  times  he  was  being  persecuted  by  the  Jews;  at  times  he  would 
be  repeating  the  words  of  his  father  as  he  sought  to  reclaim  him 
to  the  faith  of  Israel;  again  he  would  be  standing  before  Gentile 
audiences,  pleading  for  God’s  ancient  people;  or  at  still  other 
times  positively  asserting  his  faith  in  the  final  triumph  of  Christ. 
On  one  such  occasion  his  wife  wrote  down  verbatim  a  passage,  in- 


Page  Twenty  six 


dicating  the  tremendous  grip  his  life-work  had  made  on  his  own 
soul : 

“Lord  Jesus,  I  am  going  to  die.  I  have  preached  Christ  and 
Him  crucified.  I  have  told  of  a  risen  Saviour  and  many  would  not 
listen  to  my  words.  I  have  preached  with  a  weary  body,  and  gone 
from  place  to  place  all  over  this  land.  My  body  will  go  down  to 
the  grave,  but  my  blood  will  rise  as  sweet  incense  to  God,  and  from 
my  grave  wrill  rise  missions  to  the  Jews  throughout  the  earth. 
Christ  shall  be  acknowledged  the  Messiah.” 

The  nurse  hushed  him  up  and  he  prayed  whispering  to  him¬ 
self.  Surely  of  him  we  may  say,  “He  kept  the  faith.” 

Paul  says  that  a  coronation  awaits  him.  “ Henceforth  there  is 
laid  up  for  me  the  crown  of  righteousness ,  which  the  Lord,  the 
righteous  judge,  shall  give  me  at  that  day.” 

To  the  follower  of  the  lowly  Nazarene,  while  there  is  the  time 
of  struggle  and  stress  and  strife,  while  there  is  the  brief  period  on 
the  race-course  with  every  muscle  tense  and  every  fiber  in  action, 
while  there  is  the  careful  guarding  of  the  very  truth  of  God  com¬ 
mitted  to  mortal  hands,  there  is  also  the  time  of  coronation,  the 
time  when  the  believer  ascends  the  throne  and  receives  the  king¬ 
dom  appointed  unto  him  by  his  Lord.  For  him  there  is  not  a  per¬ 
ishable  crown  of  wild  olives,  nor  a  fading  wreath  of  roses,  but  the 
“crown  of  righteousness.” 

Elsewhere  this  is  described  as  a  “crown  of  life,”  a  crown  of 
abundant  life,  immortal  life.  As  the  days  drew  near  the  end  and 
the  pale  flame  of  earthly  life  was  flickering,  how  much  would  we 
not  have  given  for  life,  abundant  life !  But  now,  he  has  immortal, 


Page  Twenty-seven 


eternal  life.  “A  crown  of  life!”  Not  a  fading,  corruptible  crown, 
but  ‘  ‘  a  crown  of  glory  that  fadeth  not  away.  ’  ’ 

But  that  is  only  one  part  of  his  coronation.  In  that  crown 
shall  shine  as  the  stars,  forever  and  ever,  four  or  more  young  men 
whom  he  influenced  to  enter  the  ministry  and  the  souls  he  has 
gathered  for  the  Master.  And  among  these  souls  are  already  num¬ 
bered  some  of  his  own  household,  his  own  kindred  in  the  flesh. 
His  only  sister,  after  long  years  of  silence,  finally,  in  spite  of  par¬ 
ental  command,  sent  a  message  of  love  to  this  brother  who  had  given 
up  all  for  Christ.  That  message  was  followed  by  others  until  the 
time  of  her  death.  While  she  did  not  become  an  open  follower  of 
Christ,  it  was  his  hope  that  at  least  she  was  a  secret  believer.  An 
only  brother  was,  in  the  providence  of  God,  brought  to  his  death¬ 
bed.  As  this  brother  realized  that  his  life  was  near  the  end,  he 
spoke  to  those  gathered  about  his  bedside  and  said,  “Write  to  Louis 
and  tell  him  I  die  trusting  in  Jesus  of  Nazareth  as  the  Jewish  Mes¬ 
siah.”  Years  rolled  on.  The  stern  old  Israelite  of  a  father,  who 
had  disinherited  his  own  flesh  and  blood,  who  had  solemnly  pro¬ 
nounced  the  curse  on  his  own  child,  lay  a-dying.  Would  the  pray¬ 
ers  of  the  persecuted  son  be  answered  and  the  father  also  be  won? 
We  know  not  with  certainty,  but  we  do  know  that  his  thoughts 
were  of  Christ.  The  aged  man’s  lips  moved.  The  watchers  caught 
the  fleeting  utterance :  “I  wonder  if  Inez  and  Gladys  and  Theodore 
are  praying  to  their  Christ  for  me?”  “Surely  that  is  a  coronation 
worthy  of  a  king.  “Henceforth  there  is  laid  up  for  me  the  crown  of 
righteousness,  which  the  Lord,  the  righteous  judge,  will  give  unto 
me  at  that  day.” 


Page  Twenty-eiyht 


But  there  will  be  more  than  that  in  this  coronation.  Paul,  as 
he  nears  the  end  of  his  pilgrimage,  after  years  of  toil  and  hard¬ 
ship  and  suffering,  uses  this  strange  expression,  “that  I  may  know 
Him.”  Why,  Paul,  what  mean  you  by  such  strange  language? 
Surely  of  all  men,  you  know  Christ.  Christ  has  called  you  and 
guided  you  and  given  His  sanction  to  your  labors.  Christ  has  been 
with  you  in  prison ;  amid  the  scourgings  and  persecutions  and 
perils  by  land  and  sea.  The  Lord  has  been  with  you.  Surely  you 
know  Christ.  “No,”  replied  the  apostle,  “I  am  but  beginning  to 
know  the  marvelous  Saviour.  Oh !  that  I  may  know  Him,  and  the 
power  of  His  resurrection,  and  the  fellowship  of  His  sufferings, 
becoming  conformed  unto  His  death.”  “Fellowship  of  His  suffer¬ 
ings!”  Paul  had  known  Christ  as  his  Saviour  for  years;  he  had 
known  Christ  as  his  Lord  for  at  least  two  decades;  but  he  wanted 
to  know  Christ  in  His  inmost,  most  vital  sphere.  He  wanted  to 
share  in  the  Gethsemane  sufferings  of  Jesus,  that  he  might  know 
more  of  Jesus,  that  he  might  understand  Christ. 

Brethren,  there  will  be  a  difference  in  the  heavenly  ranks. 
Every  saved  soul  will  be  filled  with  fulness  of  joy,  but  the  capacity 
of  all  will  not  be  alike.  A  tincup  can  be  full,  but  that  does  not  mean 
that  it  will  hold  as  much  as  a  barrel.  There  will  be  those  in  heaven 
just  saved,  but  saved  alone.  There  will  be  no  crown  for  them,  no 
coronation  day  for  them.  They  shall  know  something  about  Christ, 
but  not  all.  There  will  be  others  who  have  entered  the  sphere  of 
service.  They  will  have  a  corresponding  crown.  They  shall  know 
more  about  Christ.  There  will  be  still  others,  who  have  had  “fel¬ 
lowship  with  Christ  in  His  sufferings,”  and  they  shall  know  Him 
infinitely  better  than  others.  They  shall  understand  more  of  Christ 


Pape  T iccnt p-nifne 


and  His  work.  Throughout  eternity  they  shall  have  a  fulness  of 
joy  that  others,  who  have  not  suffered  with  Christ,  shall  be  utterly 
incapable  of  having. 

As  we  think  over  this  life  that  passed  from  us  out  of  the  realm 
of  death  into  the  realm  of  life,  surely  no  one  would  deny  that  this 
man  has  borne  the  cross  of  suffering.  He,  as  a  Jew,  like  his  Saviour, 
has  known  the  reproach  of  the  Jewish  race.  He  has  borne  persecu¬ 
tion,  the  loss  of  wealth,  of  kindred,  of  all  that  the  world  holds  dear, 
and  he  has  borne  it  for  the  sake  of  Christ.  He  has  had  ‘  ‘  Fellowship 
with  Christ  in  His  sufferings.  ’  ’  He  shall  know  Christ. 

But  the  apostle  does  not  close  with  the  entrance  into  the  Pres¬ 
ence-chamber  of  the  glorified  Lord,  or  with  the  ascension  to  the 
throne,  the  solemn  coronation  and  the  investiture  of  regal  author¬ 
ity.  There  is  for  him  the  endless  joy  of  heavenly  fellowship  with 
the  redeemed.  £<I  have  fought  the  good  fight,  I  have  finished  the 
course,  I  have  kept  the  faith :  henceforth  there  is  laid  up  for  me  the 
crown  of  righteousness,  which  the  Lord,  the  righteous  judge,  shall 
give  to  me  at  that  day ;  and  not  to  me  only,  but  also  to  all  them,  that 
have  loved  His  appearing.” 

So  Paul  was  not  to  be  crowned  alone.  Others  also  were  to  re¬ 
ceive  the  like  reward.  There  will  be  blessed  fellowship  there.  Friend 
will  meet  friend.  Loved  ones  once  more  shall  gather  together. 
Home-circles,  broken  here  on  earth,  will  be  re-united  in  glory.  So 
in  the  words  of  the  apostle,  “We  would  not  have  you  ignorant, 
brethren,  concerning  them  that  fall  asleep ;  that  ye  sorrow  not  even 
as  the  rest,  who  have  no  hope.” 

And  now,  dear  Louis,  sleep  on  and  take  your  rest.  The  richest 
soil  that  came  from  the  Creator’s  plenteous  hand,  laden  with  wealth 


Page  Thirty 


untold,  shall  be  thy  pillow ;  the  earth,  clothed  in  garments  of  beauty, 
shall  fold  thee  to  her  warm  breast ;  by  day  the  splendor  of  the  Cali¬ 
fornia  sun  shall  bathe  thy  couch  with  glory;  by  night  the  myriad 
stars,  clear  shining,  shall  whisper  sweet  messages  of  God;  over  thy 
form  the  Lord  Himself  shall  spread  with  gentle  hand  a  flowery 
robe  more  glorious  than  that  of  Solomon’s;  the  everlasting  moun¬ 
tains  with  their  ever-changing  shadows  and  their  never-ending 
stories  shall  be  thy  head-stone.  In  the  richest  garden  of  God ’s  foot¬ 
stool,  we  lay  thee  tenderly  to  rest,  until  the  trump  of  God  shall 
sound  and  the  dawn  of  the  resurrection  morn  shall  break  over  land 
and  sea,  and  Jesus,  thy  beloved  Messiah,  shall  come  “leaping  upon 
the  mountains,  skipping  upon  the  hills”  seeking  His  own.  Then 
shall  these  deaf  ears  hear  the  sweet  voice  of  the  Son  of  God,  saying, 
“Rise  up  my  love,  my  dove,  my  fair  one,  and  come  away.”  Then 
shall  these  sightless  eyes  “behold  the  King  in  His  beauty  and  the 
land  that  lieth  afar  off.”  Then  shall  this,  thy  frail  “body  of  hu¬ 
miliation”  be  changed  into  His  glorious  likeness,  for  thou  shalt  “be 
like  Him,  for  thou  shalt  see  Him  as  He  is.” 


Page  Thirty-one 


Glorying  m  Christ 


By  Rev.  J.  H.  Sam  mis 


“I  am  not  sorry  that  I  bore  the  cross, 

My  kinsman’s  curses  and  the  Gentile’s  frown; 

That  what  was  gain  to  me  I  counted  loss 
And  at  the  feet  of  Jesus  laid  it  down. 

Could  I  be  sorry  to  fare  forth  with  Him 

“Without  the  camp,”  where  He  to  spare  us  all, 

With  lips  love-fevered  pressed  the  death-cup’s  brim 
Till  drained  of  all  its  hemlock  and  its  gall ! 

No;  I’m  not  sorry  that  I’ve  kept  the  faith, 

And  followed  fully  through  the  thickening  strife ; 

I  know  whom  I  have  trusted  unto  death, 

Whose  hand  holds  forth  to  me  a  crown  of  life. 

Oh,  I  have  gloried  in  the  cross  of  Christ, 

Welcomed  the  scourge  of  scorning  with  a  kiss, 

And  would,  had  I  a  thousand  lives,  sufficed 

With  this  glad  moment  of  expectant  bliss.” 


(Suggested  by  the  triumphant  testimony 
of  Rev.  Louis  Meyer,  D.  D.) 


Page  Thirty-three 


“He  Being  Dead,  Yet  Speaketh 


By  Rev.  George  N.  Greer 

(One  o£  the  young  men  influenced  by  Louis  Meyer 
to  enter  the  Gospel  Ministry) 


Dr.  Meyer  was  my  beloved  pastor  during  my  college  days. 
Long  shall  I  remember  his  helpful  messages  from  the  pulpit.  Long 
shall  I  remember  his  goodly  and  kindly  counsels  to  me  in  private 
life.  Truly  “a  prince  and  a  great  man  is  fallen  this  day  in  Israel.” 
And  now  we  pay  the  last  rites  of  the  living  to  the  departed :  earth 
to  earth,  ashes  to  ashes,  dust  to  dust.  In  committing  this  body  to 
the  grave,  the  dust  returns  to  the  earth  as  it  was.  The  spirit  has 
gone  to  God  who  gave  it.  “I  heard  a  voice  from  heaven  saying. 
Write:  Blessed  are  the  dead  which  die  in  the  Lord  from  hence¬ 
forth.  Yea,  saith  the  Spirit,  that  they  may  rest  from  their  labors: 
for  their  works  follow  with  them.” 

“I  am  the  resurrection  and  the  life.  He  that  believeth  on 
me,  though  he  die,  yet  shall  he  live;  and  whosoever  liveth  and  be¬ 
lieveth  on  me  shall  never  die.” 

Looking  into  the  open  grave  we  can  say,  ‘Yea,  though  I  walk 
through  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death,  I  will  fear  no  evil :  for 
thou  art  with  me ;  thy  rod  and  thy  staff  they  comfort  me.  ’  ’  Looking 
beyond  the  grave  we  can  confidently  say,  “We  know  that  if  our 
earthly  house  of  this  tabernacle  were  dissolved,  we  have  a  building 
of  God,  an  house  not  made  with  hands,  eternal  in  the  heavens.  ’  ’ 


Page  Thirty-five 


“The  Lord  bless  yon  and  keep  you,  bereaved,  ones.  The  Lord 
make  his  face  shine  upon  you  and  be  gracious  unto  you.  The  Lord 
lift  up  His  countenance  upon  you  and  give  you  peace.”  “And  the 
grace  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  love  of  God  and  the  communion 
of  the  Holy  Ghost  be  with  you  all.  Amen.” 


Page  Thirty-six 


Dr.  Louis  Meyer 


The  simple  announcement  in  the  last  Jewish  Era  of  the  home¬ 
going  of  our  distinguished  friend  and  brother  has  brought  much 
sadness  to  those  who  knew  his  best. 

Letters  by  the  scores  have  been  received  from  friends  testify¬ 
ing  to  their  appreciation  of  his  character  and  the  value  of  his  worth. 
We  would  like  to  publish  them  all.  but  we  give  the  following: 

“  Jewish  missions  have  lost  a  strong  advocate,  especially  on 
this  side  of  the  Atlantic,  and  we  only  recognize  the  loss  when  he  is 
gone.” — S.  B.  Bohold. 

“We  were  sorry  to  hear  of  his  demise  and  we  rejoice  we  have 
learned  to  know  and  to  love  him.  May  the  Lord  provide  you  with 
a  man  to  fill  his  place,  though  I  fear,  as  expressed  in  The  Mission¬ 
ary  Review,  his  place  cannot  be  filled.” — Henry  Beets. 

“I  deeply  regret  Dr.  Meyer’s  death.  I  never  knew  a  man  on  so 
short  an  acquaintance  with  whom  I  was  so  favorably  impressed.” — 
Milton  Stewart. 

“Accept  warmest  sympathy  in  all  that  which  the  home  call  of 
dear  Dr.  Louis  Meyer  will  mean  to  you  and  the  work.” — S.  H. 
Wilkinson. 

“I  am  greatly  grieved  at  the  loss  of  our  friend,  Dr.  Meyer,  and 
deeply  sympathize  with  his  family.  His  going  means  a  great  loss 
to  The  Review,  as  well  as  to  The  Fundamentals,  the  Chicago  He¬ 
brew  Mission  and  the  world  in  general.” — Dclavan  L.  Pierson. 


Page  Thirty-seven 


“I  sympathize  with  you  over  the  death  of  Mr.  Meyer.  Truly 
one  of  the  Bible  defenders  has  gone  ‘up  higher.’  ” — Mrs.  Mary 
Jenkins. 

“His  death  is  certainly  a  loss  to  the  Mission,  and  what  must 
it  be  for  his  family.  May  the  God  of  all  comfort  comfort  the  dear 
ones.” — C.  Kuyper. 

‘  ‘  Dr.  Meyer  was  a  great  man  and  his  being  cut  off  in  the  prime 
of  life  at  a  time  when  he  was  accomplishing  so  much,  not  only  for 
his  own  people,  but  for  the  cause  of  Christ  at  large,  is  one  of  the 
mysteries  which  we  cannot  understand.  For  personal  reasons  I 
have  cause  to  remember  him.  .  .  .  Nor  can  we  forget  how 
zealously  and  faithfully  he  worked,  not  only  for  his  own  people, 
but  for  The  Missionary  Review  and  for  the  Testimony  Publishing 
Company.  He  probably  accomplished  more  in  his  comparatively 
brief  life  than  many  men  who  lived  their  allotted  time.” — Lyman 
Stewart. 

“We  deeply  regret  to  record  the  death  of  Rev.  Louis  Meyer, 
one  of  the  most  eminent  and  sucessful  Jewish  mission  workers  of 
the  present  generation.  .  .  .  He  was  a  man  of  high  scholar¬ 

ship,  devoted  piety  and  great  usefulness.” — A.  B.  Simpson. 

“I  am  very,  very  sorry  that  our  friend,  Louis  Meyer,  passed 
away  the  11th  of  July.  He  did  suffer  many  months  and  his  life 
was  a  life  of  hard  labor.  But  he  died  in  the  Lord  and  his  works 
follow  him.” — Prof.  H.  L.  S track. 

“Indeed  it  was  grief  to  learn  that  Mr.  Meyer  had  gone.  His 
portion  is  far  better,  but  the  wife  and  children  will  continue  to 
miss  him  sadly.  .  .  .  But  Dr.  Meyer  himself  is  in  the  midst 

of  the  ‘glory  that  excelleth’.” — Mrs.  Paul  King. 


Page  Thirty-eight 


“What  sad  news  it  was  that  our  beloved  brother,  Dr.  Louis 
Meyer,  died.  God’s  will  he  done.  We  have  to  kneel  and  be  still, 
and  more  than  that,  we  shall  go  on  and  do  the  work  of  our  Lord 
till  He  calls  us  home,  too.” — J.  1.  Fles. 

1 ‘  The  news  of  the  death  of  our  dear  Brother  Meyer  was  a  great 
shock  to  me.  It  will  be  difficult  for  the  Hebrew  Mission  to  find  a 
true  substitute  for  him,  but  I  trust  the  Lord  will  help  you  select 
one  who  will  work  with  the  same  energy  and  zeal.” — E.  E. 
Gruenstein. 

‘  ‘  I  had  learned  to  love  Dr.  Meyer,  and  I  fully  appreciated  the 
great  service  he  was  rendering  to  the  cause  of  Christ  by  his  self- 
denying  labors.” — Professor  Charles  P.  Erdman,  D.  D. 

“Surely  he  was  a  man  of  God,  living  and  walking  with  Him, 
and  like  Enoch,  God  took  him.” — H.  P.  Crowell. 

“Death  is  swallowed  up  in  victory.  ‘Of  whom  the  world  was 
not  worthy’  seems  so  true  of  him.  His  was  a  hard,  brave  fight  for 
the  truth  and  he  has  gone  to  his  reward.” — Mrs.  William  Borden. 

‘  ‘  I  know  what  a  grievous  loss  his  death  will  be  not  only  to  rela¬ 
tives,  but  to  the  church  generally.  His  ability  was  such  and  his 
knowledge  of  the  subject  of  missions  so  great,  that  he  was  in  con¬ 
stant  demand  as  a  speaker  and  writer.” — Max  J.  Meyer. 

“He  has  been  at  a  great  work  in  putting  forth  “The  Funda¬ 
mentals,  ’  ’  dealing  with  such  important  matters  in  these  days,  when 
so  much  unbelief  is  found.  He  has  been  a  diligent  ‘laborer  in  the 
harvest’.” — Professor  D.  B.  Willson,  D.  D. 

— Jewish  Era. 


Page  Thirty-nine 


•  , 


' 

* 


Nature  and  Faith 


We  wept — ’twas  Nature  wept — but  Faith 
Can  pierce  beyond  the  gloom  of  death, 
And  in  yon  world,  so  fair  and  bright, 
Behold  thee  in  refulgent  light ! 

We  miss  thee  here,  yet  Faith  would  rather 
Know  thou  art  with  thy  Heavenly  Father. 
Nature  sees  the  body  dead — 

Faith  beholds  the  spirit  fled ; 

Nature  stops  at  Jordan’s  tide — 

Faith  beholds  the  other  side; 

That,  but  hears  farewell,  and  sighs — 

This,  thy  welcome  in  the  skies ; 

Nature  mourns  the  cruel  blow — 

Faith  assures  it  is  not  so ; 

Nature  never  sees  thee  more — 

Faith  but  sees  thee  gone  before; 

Nature  tells  a  dismal  story — 

Faith  has  visions  full  of  glory; 

Nature  views  the  change  with  sadness — 
Faith  contemplates  it  with  gladness; 
Nature  murmurs — Faith  gives  meekness, 

4  4  Strength  is  perfected  in  weakness ;  ’  ’ 
Nature  writhes,  and  hates  the  rod — 

Faith  looks  up,  and  blesses  God ; 


Page  Forty-one 


Sense  looks  downward — Faith  above ; 

That  sees  harshness— this  sees  love. 

Oh !  let  Faith  victorious  be — 

Let  it  reign  triumphantly ! 

But  thou  art  gone !  not  lost,  but  flown ; 
Shall  I  then  ask  thee  back,  my  own? 

Back — and  leave  thy  spirit’s  brightness? 
Back— and  leave  thy  robes  of  whiteness  ? 
Back— and  leave  the  Lamb  who  feeds  thee? 
Back — from  founts  to  which  He  leads  thee  ? 
Back — and  leave  thy  Heavenly  Father? 
Back— to  earth  and  sin?— Nay,  rather 
Would  I  live  in  solitude ! 

I  would  not  ask  thee,  if  I  could ; 

But  patient  wait  the  high  decree 
That  calls  my  spirit  home  to  thee ! 

— Selected. 


Page  Forty-two 


BIBLE  HOUSE  OF  LOS  ANGELES 

Los  Angeles,  California 


